Developer Spends $40 Million On 244 Acres In Broward

Parkland is becoming a focal point in the latest development cycle as one of the last South Florida communities with large tracts of land available for residential construction.

Home-building giant Lennar Corp. added nearly 244 acres to its Parkland portfolio with the purchase of an agricultural property west of the company’s MiraLago at Parkland development. The company paid $40 million, or about $164,000 per acre, for the land in northwestern Broward County, according to county records.

MiraLago West Lennar LLC, managed by the Miami company, acquired the land Oct. 8 at 14250 Loxahatchee Road. The county recorded the transaction Friday.

Triple H Ranch Property Ltd., managed by Fort Lauderdale-based Huizenga Holdings Inc., is the seller. The company controlled by H. Wayne Huizenga provided MiraLago West with a $30 million mortgage.

MiraLago West and Triple H went under contract in January 2012, according to an assignment of development agreement filed concurrently with the sale deed. The contract was amended four times before the sale closed.

Lennar is developing MiraLago east of the Loxahatchee Road land. The company plans a gated community of 526 single-family and estate homes and 250 townhouses around a 140-acre lake northwest of the Sawgrass Expressway and Florida’s Turnpike, according to its website. MiraLago homes range from three to six bedrooms and from $486,000 to more than $650,000.

MiraLago amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, swimming pool and basketball and tennis courts, according to Lennar.

Lennar paid $36 million for the MiraLago site in June 2011.

Popular with families because of a highly rated school system, Parkland is being targeted by major residential builders. Other planned projects in the city include Toll Brothers Inc.’s Parkland Golf & Country Club, an expansion of the Heron Bay development by WCI Communities Inc. and the Parkland Royale senior housing community.

Last month, Lennar posted third-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst projections. The company cited increased home sales and rising home prices for the strong performance.

“We continue to see long-term fundamental demand in the market driven by the significant shortfall of new single-family and multi-family homes built over the last five years,” Lennar CEO Stuart Miller said in the report. “While there may be bumps along the road that may impact the short-term pace of the recovery, the long-term outlook for our business remains extremely bright.”

The MiraLago West sale is the second recent transaction involving a South Florida agricultural site ripe for large-scale residential development.